In spite of blowing a late lead against St. Louis last week, we'll put the defending Cup champs in the second spot, just a hair behind the Ducks. Patrick Sharp is on an absolute tear, but will it be enough to earn him a spot on Canada's Olympic team?

They keep losing players -- Pascal Dupuis is the latest to go down with a serious injury and might be lost to the team for the balance of the season -- but the Penguins keep on winning and winning and winning.

The Bruins have lost Dennis Seidenberg, one of the game's most unheralded players, for the balance of the season, so we know GM Peter Chiarelli will be looking to shore up the blue line to keep the Bruins in the hunt for another Stanley Cup.

The Caps have opened up a five-point cushion on the rest of the Metropolitan Division. Alex Ovechkin is leading the NHL in goals scored and Philipp Grubauer is staking a claim to the starting netminding job.

The Red Wings are starting to get healthy -- but is that a good thing when it comes to goaltending, as Jimmy Howard is set to return just in time for the U.S. Olympic team announcement after Wednesday's Winter Classic.

In spite of their loss Sunday to the Penguins, the Blue Jackets have put together their best stretch of the season and are back in the playoff discussion in the Metropolitan. Will Sergei Bobrovsky's return tilt the playoff scales in their favor?

The Wild are in crisis mode, having lost five in a row. And without Zach Parise, who's on the IR with a foot injury, the prospect of hanging around the playoff discussion in the Central Division looks bleak. Crunch time for head coach Mike Yeo after blowing a big lead in Sunday's loss to the Islanders.